Big Splash

Featured on

June 7, 2011

An eruption of hot gas known as a coronal mass ejection blooms above the Sun in the early hours of June 7 in this image from the orbiting Solar Dynamics Observatory. The eruption accompanied a solar flare, which is a powerful explosion on the Sun's surface. Electrically charged particles blasted into space could reach Earth on June 8 or 9, causing bright aurorae. [NASA/SDO]